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In-Depth Information
catering to a budget traveller, while others may feature
upmarket restaurants. The annually-updated
Zagat
guide
rates restaurants according to readers' preferences, and the
well-respected
Le Petit Lebey des Bistros Parisiens
lists bistros,
brasseries
and
bars à vin
(wine bars).
How to Choose
Categories of eating establishments overlap considerably, and
what you might consider an upmarket restaurant with high
prices, might consider itself a bistro. Even guidebooks differ in
their particular categorisations. What an eating establishment
is called matters less, of course, than the specialties of
each, the quality of ingredients and their preparation, the
service and the price. Good establishments of any category
will be crowded, as Parisians love to eat out. Except in fine
restaurants, do not expect to find a quiet corner for a private
conversation.
Parisians eat outdoors whenever they can. If there is a spot
of sun and a table, a Parisian will find it. Every café terrace will
be crowded and restaurants that can do so, have tables outside,
be it 20 tables with white parasols in an elegant courtyard
or three small rickety ones on a too-narrow sidewalk. Some
4,000 cafés and restaurants have outdoor seating.
With so many restaurants and choices, recommendations
from friends or your own exploration can be most helpful.
All restaurants post their
menus
in their front windows, from
which you can ascertain the type of cuisine, the specialties and
the price range. When passing an inviting restaurant, step in
and ask for a business card to take note of the location and
telephone number, and look in at mealtimes to see whether
a place seems filled with locals—people who already know
what is good or bad, what is 'in' or 'out'.
Of course it is possible to get a bad meal in Paris, as
it is anywhere. For instance, locals rarely frequent the
establishments along the Grands Boulevards, for they
generally cater to tourists, and although the food can
sometimes be good, the service tends to be impersonal and
prices high. (If a menu is printed in three or four languages
with pictures of different flags, you can be sure it caters to
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